It’s never easy to know what an opponent will do on the tennis court. But at the ATP Cup, the Strategy Room helps point players in the right direction.

Former doubles World No. 1 and 23-time tour-level doubles titlist Jamie Murray took ATPTour.com inside Sydney’s Strategy Room to explain how various statistics and insights into matches could make the difference in critical moments at this inaugural 24-team competition.

“I really like this stuff. Sometimes you can get too bogged down in it and then forget actually you need to go out and play and you’re worrying too much about what the other guys might do,” Murray said. “You’ve still got to focus on what you can do and what you can control, because at the end of the day you might think that the guy’s going to serve there, but he’s got free choice to do what he wants to do. [But] you can definitely use it to your advantage, 100 per cent.”

Murray noted that there are some things he may look at to check progress on a part of his game that he is working on. And while it is important to look at standard stats such as first-serve percentage or first-serve points won, that’s not necessarily the most valuable aspect of the Strategy Room, or scouting in general.

“If I’m looking at the opponents that I’m going to play next, it’s more trying to find out almost like what they don’t do,” Murray said. “So if they play regular formation and they never cross, then I’ll know that I can keep returning crosscourt. Or one player, if he never serves wide on the deuce court, then I know I only have to protect the T serve and the body. So it’s things like that that kind of give you an edge.

“Maybe I’d filter second serves, where these guys are serving second serves. If they’re only serving in the body for example, then I know I don’t have to cover a wide serve, so I can cheat my position a bit. Or when they’re doing I-formation, is there a way that they always cover the cross-court return, or are they always covering down the line? Are there certain patterns that they like to play?”

The Strategy Room could also work in reverse to help players make sure they’re not getting too predictable. For example, if someone visited and saw that another player poaches crosscourt returns 85 per cent of the time in the ad court, that could play into their strategy.

“A big part of what we’re taught in Britain and our philosophy is to be unpredictable and not to be doing the same things over and over again,” Murray said. “When you’re out there, if it’s 4-4 deuce and you know that the guy never serves wide to you so you’ve only got to cover two serves instead of three, that’s a huge advantage and you can anticipate it a bit.”

In general, Murray’s coach does a lot of the scouting for matches to come. But if he’s set to face opponents he never has before, he’ll try to watch them on YouTube or television to learn their tendencies. Having advanced analytics like those being provided in the Strategy Room makes preparation even easier.

“For a doubles team, if you had access to that [information from the Strategy Room] the whole year, you can definitely use it to your advantage. It’s still obviously about getting out there and executing what you’re trying to do,” Murray said. “But it definitely helps if you know for sure certain plays that teams do or that they don’t do. That definitely gives you an edge when you’re going into matches.

“In doubles, the margins are so small and matches are deciding all the time by two or three points. So if you have that little extra edge, it can really help.”

Ahead of Spain’s second tie at the ATP Cup on Monday against Uruguay, team captain Francisco Roig shared his thoughts on leading the term in Perth and the unique aspects of this event.

Here is a quick summary of my first experience as an ATP Cup captain. For various reasons, it is a new and different situation that none of us had experienced before.

First of all, we are practically in a group on the court. It’s unusual because we sit there in the Team Zone and you talk with one player, then another gives their point of view. It’s not like in Davis Cup, where it’s only the captain giving advice. We are all much closer and more involved with the players here. It’s different because there is a lot more communication with the player’s coach, who sits by your side and talks directly with his player, as was the case on Saturday for Pepe Vendrell with Roberto Bautista Agut.

I’m convinced that at a certain point, you can help the player with what you convey during the rest periods. You can calm them down, without a doubt. From the outside, you can see everything better and find details that the player doesn’t see. They like to feel that they have people and support around them… That alone is a bonus.

Of course, you have to be clear when the player arrives so that you don’t confuse them. A quick anecdote: When Rafa arrives, the energy is incredible and the floor is practically shaking. You can feel his arrival… It’s like a tsunami is coming. It’s true that he then talks a lot, explains and asks questions.

In addition, you can give instructions between points if you want. We also have the option of having all the statistics in real time on the tablet in the Team Zone. You have to try and know how to read them well so that it becomes an important asset.

Against Georgia, Rafa Maymo, the other physio for Rafa, changed jobs and sat with the tablet to keep an eye on the statistics. He did a good job. I think we’ll keep him in that position. We monitored a few things and let him know. That was another new experience.

Finally, we also have Video Review here. I think that it will be used a lot for certain situations and you can also clearly see whether there is an impact.

Tennis is a sport that has evolved slightly and all these innovations are a good thing for all of us that are involved. We’re enjoying the ATP Cup.

Top seed Stan Wawrinka and 2012 Qatar ExxonMobil Open champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have plenty of positive memories in Doha and added another on Sunday by hitting outside of the National Museum of Qatar.

The 40,000 m² museum was opened to the public last March and is made of interlocking discs that create cavities to protect visitors from the desert heat. The building was designed by architect Jean Nouvel, who got his inspiration from the desert rose crystal.

Wawrinka will open his season against the winner of the all-French battle between Jeremy Chardy and Gregoire Barrere. Third seed Tsonga will start his Doha campaign against Aussie Jordan Thompson or #NextGenATP Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.

The second phase of round robin ties has begun, with 12 countries contesting their second ATP Cup fixtures on Day 3. With Final Eight qualification secured for one nation, doubles drama and a number of talking points from the innovative Team Zones, Day 3 has delivered plenty of talking points across Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.

Here are 10 of the biggest takeaways from Day 3:

1) Australia Qualifies: Team Australia became the first country to book its place in the Final Eight, leaving seven spots available for the remaining 23 contenders. The home nation recorded its second 3-0 tie victory on Sunday and will meet Team Greece in its final round robin tie.

2) No Stopping De Minaur: Alex de Minaur has found his best level at the ATP Cup. The two-time Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up has recovered from a set down in both his singles matches to beat Alexander Zverev and Denis Shapovalov, but on Day 3 he also impressed fans off the court. The 20-year-old made an impressive catch from the Team Zone during John Peers and Chris Guccione’s doubles victory.

3) Bulgarian Success: Team Bulgaria’s dream start to the ATP Cup continued on Sunday. Following its dramatic 2-1 win against Team Great Britain, Grigor Dimitrov clinched another 2-1 success against Team Moldova. The World No. 20 beat Radu Albot 6-2, 6-3 to earn an unassailable 2-0 lead, adding to Dimitar Kuzmanov’s 6-1, 7-5 win against Alexander Cozbinov.

4) Bulgaria’s Honorary Member: When Team Bulgaria’s playing captain Dimitrov is warming up for his matches, who leads the team? The answer is Dimitrov’s new coach Christian Groh. The German, who began coaching the 28-year-old last month, has been a regular fixture in the Bulgarian Team Zone offering advice to all the players during their successful start to the ATP Cup.

5) Germany Saves 6 M.P.: Pat Rafter Arena witnessed a doubles classic on Sunday night as Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies saved six match points to overcome Michail Pervolarakis and Stefanos Tsitsipas in a decisive doubles rubber. Tsitsipas entered the match in form after levelling the tie at 1-1 with a 6-1, 6-4 win against Alexander Zverev, but the Roland Garros titlists played fearless tennis under pressure to secure a marathon 3-6, 6-3, 17-15 triumph.

6) Brits Bounce Back: After failing to convert two match points to win a decisive doubles match against Team Bulgaria on Day 1, Joe Salisbury and Jamie Murray edged Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-3, 7-6(7) to move Team Great Britain to 1-1 in Group C. In singles, Daniel Evans upset David Goffin 6-4, 6-4 after Steve Darcis opened the tie with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Cameron Norrie.

7) Reliable Russians: For the second straight tie, Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev completed singles victories to obtain an unassailable 2-0 advantage. Khachanov withstood an impressive start from Taylor Fritz to defeat the American 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, before Medvedev broke John Isner on four occasions to win 6-3, 6-1.

8) Italy On The Board: After losing to Team Russia in its first tie, Team Italy responded with a 2-1 triumph against Team Norway. Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini overcame Day 1 doubles winners Viktor Durasovic and Casper Ruud to add to Stefano Travaglia’s 6-1, 6-1 success against Durasovic.

9) Another Top 20 Win: Ruud followed his comeback victory against World No. 19 John Isner with an impressive 6-2, 6-2 win against World No. 12 Fognini. The 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier, who trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, has won three of the four matches he has played at this event.

10) Best For Last: Following John Millman’s 6-4, 6-2 success against Felix Auger-Aliassime and De Minaur’s 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2 comeback win against Shapovalov,Peers and Guccione finished Australia’s tie with a volleying masterclass at Pat Rafter Arena. Serving at 9/8 in a final-set tie-break against Auger-Aliassime and Adil Shamasdin, the Australians soaked up the pressure from their opponents with solid net play to claim the win.

Germans Andreas Mies/Kevin Krawietz saved six match points and overcame a partisan Greek crowd to beat Greece’s Michail Pervolarakis/Stefanos Tsitsipas and give Germany its first tie victory at the 2020 ATP Cup.

Mies/Krawietz, 2019 Nitto ATP Finals qualifiers and reigning Roland Garros champions, fell behind 0/5 in the Match Tie-break as the Greek faithful roared and waved their blue and white flags. But the Germans stepped up and saved match points at 8/9, 10/11, 11/12, 12/13, 13/14, 14/15 before winning their second match point to clinch the team win 3-6, 6-3, 17-15.

“I’m very proud how we came back and we fought hard. And Boris believed in us, the whole team was behind us all the way through and I’m so happy to win it in the end,” Mies said.

“It’s an honour to be part of this team and to play these type of matches. That’s what you practise for and that’s what you play for all these years, to be in this position and to win the match like this. There’s nothing better to finish the match point in the end.”

Germany’s captain Boris Becker said the team maintained belief against all night against Greece and after its 0-3 tie defeat to Australia on Saturday.

“If it ends like this I don’t mind staying all night long here,” Becker said of the doubles match, which finished around 11:30 p.m. “A big compliment to my players here that they kept their nerves. Most other teams would have given up, and they kept their nerves, they kept fighting, they kept believing, and they played well at the end.

“The whole team, even after the 3-0 against Australia, we stuck together. We worked it yesterday, we had dinner together, and then we spoke about how we wanted to approach today, and everybody believed.”

Earlier in singles, Tsitsipas made it five straight wins against World No. 7 Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-4 to put Greece within one match win of its first tie victory.

“I’m proud of my singles. Doubles went good as well. I’m very proud of myself the way I played and at the same time I feel disappointed. I came so close and, obviously, we’re not the favourites, but we could have been the ones that made the surprise today and we didn’t, which is such a shame,” Tsitsipas said.

“It was nuts. People loved it. We got a lot of support, more than them, and that’s what makes it more terrible.”

The reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion won 83 per cent of his first-serve points against Zverev and broke four times as the German’s struggles with double faults – 10 for the night – persisted.

“My serving isn’t back yet. Simple as that. I’m doing double faults. I’m serving 120 kilometers an hour, that’s not really going to cut it,” Zverev said.

Jan-Lennard Struff started the tie by earning his first victory of the 2020 ATP Tour season, a 6-4, 6-1 win against Pervolarakis. Struff overcame a slow start in which he fell behind a break at 2-3.

But the 29-year-old calmed his nerves and broke twice in the opening set against Pervolarakis, who went 7-8 on the ATP Challenger Tour last season.

“He was playing very aggressive and I didn’t find him keen in the first game and I told myself that 3-2 down… I said to myself, ‘I need to find a way for to go out there and to battle back now.’ And I did find a way and it was very important for me to get myself up again,” Struff said.

It was all Struff from there as the German won nearly 70 per cent (37/55) of his service points for the match.

Struff finished 2019 as the German No. 2 for the first time and at a career-high year-end FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 35. The 6’5” right-hander fell to Aussie Nick Kyrgios in his opening match. 

Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev helped Team Russia to a 2-1 victory over Team United States in Group D at the inaugural ATP Cup in Perth on Sunday night.

Khachanov battled back once again to record his second singles win in Perth for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Taylor Fritz in one hour and 52 minutes, while Medvedev broke down John Isner’s serve, committing just two unforced errors in a 6-3, 6-1 win over just 60 minutes at the RAC Arena.

Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram prevented a clean sweep for Russia by winning the doubles match over Khachanov and Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 in 67 minutes.

When asked if he would tinker with the doubles team for the Norway tie on Tuesday, Russia’s captain, former World No. 1 Marat Safin, said: “I think for the moment I want them [Medvedev and Khachanov] to play as many match as they can so they get used to it for this tournament and their future careers, if they decide to play doubles at some point together.”

Regardless of the score, if Russia beats Norway on Tuesday, Russia wins Group D and travels to Sydney for the Final Eight of the ATP Cup.

World No. 5 Medvedev was in excellent form in the second singles match, hitting 24 winners and committing just two unforced errors in a 60-minute victory over Isner.

“I think I played great,” said Medvedev. “To beat John with such score is a really great achievement. I knew before the match I just had to try return as much as possible. It worked out well. On my serve, I had only one tight game, missed some first serves. If not, I think the match was under my control. So I’m really happy for the team that we got the important win.

“I was really expecting some maybe three tie-breaks or something like that. I played [Reilly] Opelka last year in three tie-breaks. I played [Milos] Raonic with tie-breaks. I’m really happy that I managed to kind of read his serve, returned really well and win without a tie-break.”

Medvedev soon created opportunities to break Isner’s serve, going close in the third game of the first set. The Russian then won five straight games from 2-3 in the first set to 1-0 in the second set. Isner, who struck 33 aces in his opening match against Casper Ruud of Norway on Friday, won 14 of 27 service points and hit five aces against Medvedev, who broke at 2-1 in the second set.

“I got my ass kicked out there,” said Isner. “He did what he does well, which is make a lot of balls, that’s kind of how he was playing last year. I wasn’t even close tonight. Generally, with my game, I can keep matches close and make it depend on a few points here or there, but that wasn’t the case tonight… I didn’t quite serve as well as I needed to, there’s no doubt. I can certainly serve better.”

The 23-year-old Medvedev, who rose to a career-high No. 4 in the FedEx ATP Rankings last year, compiled a 59-21 match record in 2019, including four titles.

Fritz got off to a quick start in the first singles match, showing great variation on his serve and a willingness to attack the net to keep Khachanov on the back foot. Khachanov, who’d won their previous match 6-2, 6-4 at the Rolex Shanghai Masters three months ago, began to work his way into the match, but Fritz’s shot-making was too strong in the 33-minute first set. At 5-3, Fritz was taken to deuce for the second consecutive game, but he held firm saving one break point.

“He started like on the 10th speed,” said Khachanov. “In the car you have only six, but he started with 10. And he was hitting everything like full power and he didn’t give me any rhythm… I think at the end of the first set I already had him, I had a break point. If I would have broken, maybe I would have even turned it around earlier.

Fritz, standing on top of his backhand and striking cleanly, broke Khachanov for a 3-2 advantage in the second set, but was immediately clawed back. Khachanov could not convert a set point on Fritz’s serve at 5-4, but his greater groundstroke depth and power led to a decider.

“I played well since the beginning, he just played more aggressive, faster, hitting to the sides and didn’t miss. I stepped in a little bit more, started to play with more trajectory to push him back a little bit from the baseline, and, in general, I think I pumped myself up to play, to increase to an even higher level. I’m really proud of that.”

Khachanov won five straight games from 5-5 in the second set to 3-0 in the third set, dragging Fritz out wide to open up the court. On Friday, Khachanov recovered from 2-5 down in the first set — and saved one set point at 3-5 — en route to a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Italian Stefano Travaglia.

“I started out like the first set-and-a-half playing just really, really well,” said Fritz. “I was stepping into everything. I felt like I couldn’t miss a backhand, was hitting it really hard and crosscourt, and then, just like anytime I kind of got a look at a forehand, I was just crushing it. It felt great. It’s definitely the kind of tennis that I like to envision myself playing and I want myself to play.”

“But as the match went on I felt like he made some adjustments in the point structuring, started moving his backhand down the line a bit more. As the balls were getting worn out, I felt it was a lot tougher for me to penetrate through. I felt like I wasn’t getting as many free points off my serve. He started serving a bit better. He just made some adjustments and I didn’t quite keep my level.”

The United States lost 1-2 to Norway in its first Group D tie in Perth on Friday. Fritz beat Viktor Durasovic in that tie.

Khachanov hit 12 aces and Fritz 11 aces, meaning $2,300 towards the Aces for Bushfire Relief initiative, going directly to the Australian Red Cross bushfire disaster relief and recovery efforts.

“I think that it’s the greatest idea that came into tennis, to support this cause, because, unfortunately this is happening in Australia, and I just wish to serve as many aces as possible to give more money from my side.”

Fritz said: “It’s great what the tournament’s doing. I think I served eight the other day, so it’s almost already $2,000 that I’ve helped contribute to this. It’s great to see that it’s finally getting some awareness outside of Australia. Worldwide, people are pitching in and doing their part.”